Included in this collection is the series opener "The Killings at Badger's Drift." Here, we are introduced to Barnaby and his brilliant mind that leads him to solve so many murders. Here, an elderly woman with a fondness of finding wild flowers stumbles upon something that leads to her death. Now Barnaby and Troy must interview everyone in the village, including the local undertakers, in order to get to the bottom of the crime.
The episode "Blue Herrings" takes place in a nursing home where it is hard to tell if the frequent deaths taking place are the result of foul play or just nature taking its course. Questions start arising when it looks like wills are being changed at the last minute, and with Barnaby's aunt in the home, you can be sure he is paying close attention to the events that are happening. Nettles marked this episode as having his favorite storyline.
"A Worm in the Bud" starts off with a pair of kids stumbling upon a body in the woods. This turns out to be a farmer's wife. At first glance, it looks like a suicide, but when Barnaby and Troy start to investigate the death, it looks less and less like that, and more like a murder. When it looks like the husband of the dead woman is having an affair with his lawyer for a land-rights case, he seems like a very likely suspect. Meanwhile, the two kids who discovered the body decide to do some detective work on their own. This episode was awarded Favorite Leading Lady by Barnaby for the role Wendy Craig played in the episode.
The Best Location award is given to "Dark Autumn." Here, a village postman is murdered while on his route, and the investigation turns up a few oddball characters, including a man who records the sound of his wife's extra-marital affairs, something she is very much aware of. This episode also features a potential love interest for Troy in a local police woman.
In "Dead Man's Eleven," a cricket team becomes the focus of Barnaby's attention when a murder connected with the club is just the first in a series of deaths. These murders also seem to somehow be tied to an earlier death, but it isn't until the confessions start coming out that you find out exactly how. Nettles assigned this episode the title of Funniest Moment when one character has to react to finding out his wife is dead, but goes through a wide range of rather absurdly over-the-top reactions and emotions.
"Death of a Hollow Man" wins Nettles' Most Intriguing Crime slot when a murder is committed in front of an entire audience. The leading man in a local production of Amadeus is tricked into using a real knife when he cuts his own throat. With Barnaby in the audience, he quickly takes charge to determine exactly who switched the knife, and how they did it under everyone's noses.
In "The Electric Vendetta," a dead body in the middle of a crop circle brings out a collection of alien hunters and fanatics. All signs point to an alien abduction gone wrong, and when more bodies start showing up, it becomes even more urgent that the truth get discovered. This particular episode gets the title of Most Difficult to Film.
"Murder on St. Malley's Day" takes place at a prestigious boarding school with a long history of successful graduates. Each year, many of the boys compete in a race for honor, and when the boy in the lead stumbles to the finish line with a fatal knife wound, it's up to Barnaby and Troy to find out what really happened during the race. There is a lot of pressure from high up in the school to reach a conclusion quickly, and when word of a scholarship reaches the cops' ears, the motive for the murder seems to become more apparent. Given the subject of a murdered teenager, it's no wonder this episode earned Most Dramatic Episode.
"A Talent for Life" features the double murder of two older, and generally respected, members of a local village. One is an older lady who was once a member of high society back in the city, but moved to the country several years back. When her husband died, she all but lost the will to live, but she had found a new lease on life when deciding to have a second childhood and date a younger man, a local antiques dealer. The other victim is a local doctor who seems to have a history of adultery. The pair is found dead by a local stream while both were fly fishing, and Barnaby must uncover the odd collection of relationships in order to find out exactly who did the deed. It's partially because of some of this episode's relationships that Nettles marked this episode as Most Bizarre.
Barnaby's Favorite Episode is "Strangler's Wood" where it looks like an old killer has started up again. A woman is found dead in what is now called Strangler's Wood. She appears to have been choked to death with a neck tie, but when the evidence doesn't quite look like the string of murders nine years ago, Barnaby begins to question if its the same murderer, or just someone trying to make it look like that. This particular episode seems to have a big of an anti-smoking theme to it as the first victim is a spokeswoman for a brand of tobacco, and the second one dies by a lethal does of liquid nicotine.
If you haven't been following Midsomer Murders since the beginning, or like me, have only recently really gotten into the series, then Midsomer Murders: Barnaby's Top 10 is a good way to get a nice sampling of the show's early events. If, on the other hand, you've already picked up, or at least seen, all of these episodes, then there isn't really much of a reason to buy this collection. The introduction for each episode is nice and informative, but not necessarily worth the price of admission.
